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Tuesday, January 6, 2015

To the Manor Born

Surprise! This is why we have shifted our attention from Craves, Caves, & Graves to Franceth Manor and why I gave an indirect answer if you asked me about the new rides at Wizarding World of Harry Potter. (I didn't lie! Escape From Gringotts really did break down while we were in line. The ride tour line.) Here's an actual exchange that happened at Universal Studios:

Francis: I am never bringing a pregnant woman to Universal Studios again!
Beth: Me neither! What a waste of money!

Seriously, don't do it. Universal covers their ass and says that expectant mothers can't ride anything. If you do your research you will find that a lot of them are ok, especially in the first trimester, but no one wants to mess around in the first trimester. Wizarding World of Harry Potter is still awesome just for walking around and drinking butterbeer and eating ice cream from Florian Fortescue's,though!

As for this recent trip to Walt Disney World, here are my travel tips:
1a. Stay hydrated! We average 25,000 steps or about 12 miles every day in WDW. You should be aiming for at least 10 glasses of water. The bonus to being in a place aimed at children is that it's also easy to get milk and juice.

1b. Always have a map if you don't know where the restrooms are. I am now a professional at examining any open space in a theme park and pointing to the nearest restroom. If only I could make money off skills like that.

2. Know your food aversions and how to avoid them. Most quick service restaurants are sandwiches (no lunch meat for you!), burgers, and chicken (or turkey leg). Suddenly my pre-pregnancy low carb diet was entirely unappealing. We did a lot of snacking instead, and crossed off a number of items on the 100 Disney Foods to Eat Before You Die list. My dinner at Le Cellier was primarily bread (THAT BUTTER, amirite?), heirloom tomato salad, and beer cheese soup. I did split the ribeye with Francis, but by "split" I mean I ate 5 bites.

3. Use FP+ (FastPass) to your best advantage because you won't want to (or can't) wait in line for an hour or more. If you have been to WDW a number of times like we have, use this opportunity to do the slow stuff like the train, Liberty Belle, shows, etc. Watch all the movies and ride all the rides in the World Showcase. Visit all the lobbies of the hotels on the monorail. TRY to relax!

You develop that skill very quickly when you are always looking for them! Another tip for after the baby arrives is that every park has a baby care center with private nursing rooms, a kitchen with a microwave, a TV room, and a shop that sells formula, diapers, and wipes!